An absolutely at-capacity crowd at Heathcote Park Raceway celebrated the return of Hydraulink Jim Read Racing to the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship at the weekend, with the team inundated with well wishes across both days of the event.
After an intense two week lead up to what was round five of the Burson Auto Parts ATFC following the issues of Sydney, the team was excited to be back at the track.
A blazing race one victory over round four victor Shane Olive had the crowd on their feet on Saturday morning for a perfect start to the team’s comeback campaign.
Later in the day, a mistake by the starting official saw the crowd moving for a different reason, with countless fans making sure to stop by the JRR pit area to share their thoughts when the team was ruled out of race two and therefore, the chance to challenge for another victory and a A-Finals berth, through no fault of their own.
“The crowd at the weekend was just absolutely awesome, it was completely at capacity, and the atmosphere was unbelievable,” Hydraulink Jim Read Racing driver, Phil Read, said.
“All of the fans were so appreciative to see Top Fuel after so long and it was a real pleasure to hear the stories and to see how excited they all were to feel the rumble of Top Fuel once again.
“We tried our very best to get Black Mamba to hook up and blast down the track, and in the first round we did just that and raced through for an awesome win.
“We were confident of being able to produce a similar pass in the second round and hopefully book a spot in the A-Final.
“Unfortunately, as it turned out, the second round was one we want to forget, after a mistake by the starter saw us falsely red lighted before we even had a chance to move.
“While those involved have now admitted fault and apologised, the nature of our sport means we can’t just re-run the race, so we just have to wear that, hold our heads high, and focus on striking back at Darwin in a few weeks’ time.
“While the result in the end obviously wasn’t what we were hoping for, we have once again been overwhelmed be the support of the fans and the drag racing community. Thank you to everyone who came out and who reached out, your support is greatly appreciated, and we can’t wait to come back to Heathcote in October.”
Also soaking in all the atmosphere of the event were 50 special guests from Hydraulink, who called the Jim Read Racing pit area home for the two days.
“We were very pleased to host Hydraulink at the Summernats Slam event on the weekend,” Hydraulink Jim Read Racing Crew Chief, Bruce Read, said.
“It may have been an event of mixed fortunes for us when all was said and done, but overall it was a good weekend, it was a lot of fun, and the crowd was amazing even though it was very cold and that caused some issues with cars shaking in the last runs of each day, including in our B-Final where we elected to get off it when it shook after the hit, ensuring we can stay on the front foot parts-wise heading to the next round.
“We can’t wait to get to Darwin in June and show off what we can do as part of what should be another great event in this series.”
Hydraulink Jim Read Racing will next be on-track for Nitro Up North, round six of the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship, at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway on June 17-18.
For more information about the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship, visit www.topfuelaustralia.com.au
To learn more about Hydraulink Jim Read Racing, visit https://www.facebook.com/JimReadRacing
